Drawing from 30 years of teaching and professional development experience, this book offers a roadmap for using children's literature to provide authentic learning. Featuring a storytellers voice, each chapter includes a case study about how a particular fiction or nonfiction work can be used in an early childhood classroom; a series of open-ended questions to help readers construct their own inquiry units; and a bibliography of childrens literature. This book provides a unique synthesis of ideas based on constructivist approaches to learning, including the importance of positive dispositions and learning communities, the nature of higher order thinking, and the relationship between methods such as guided inquiry in the sciences and balanced literacy.

This honest and open autobiography is the true story of a young woman trapped in a relationship that was violent and abusive. Coercive control drove her to the depths of despair. Stacey Jameson had a lack of self-esteem derived from her early child hood. Growing up and dealing with her parent's divorce, she felt nothing more than an inconvenience to her depressive mother. With severe feelings of inadequacy, she was desperate to be loved and feel that she belonged. When she was a teenager, she met a boy Leon, and fell in love. She had never felt so happy. They both had one common denominator they were both bought up in volatile homes, this was the foundation for a turbulent and destructive relationship. Stacey was welcomed with open arms into the wings of Leon's twisted family, naive and impressionable she finally felt secure and loved. Stacey's childhood had made her timid and compliant. Leon's childhood had made him controlling and narcissistic. Gradually Stacey found herself in an unhappy relationship where her partner thrived on being abusive, yet she still loved him. She was coercively controlled into doing things that just were not part of her character. She was so manipulated she believed she did not deserve any better. So often people look on with judgement at others who are in an abusive relationship, and say "Why don't they just leave?." Stacey's story describes her journey as to why it's just not so simple to do that. Stacey's story is one of millions of stories, of people who find themselves caught up in a destructive relationship that they just cannot find a way out of.

Dr. Seuss's hilarious Beginner Book about a boy who refuses to get out of bed! NOTHING is getting the young hero of this easy-reader out of bed—not an alarm clock, roosters, barking dogs, the police, the news media, or the United States Marines! With illustrations by beloved New Yorker cartoonist James Stevenson—and a plot that children and adults can relate to—this is a funny fantasy that the whole family can enjoy together! Originally created by Dr. Seuss, Beginner Books encourage children to read all by themselves, with simple words and illustrations that give clues to their meaning. "A rhyming story that is full of laughs. 'The alarm can ring. The birds can peep....Today's the day I'm going to sleep,' says a lazy boy one morning, and despite a pail of icy water, television coverage, and the arrival of the Marines, he vows to stay in bed--and he does! The repetition of concepts and words will keep children turning the pages, as will the energetic drawings. A sure draw for early readers."--Booklist.

NOBEL PRIZE WINNER • The moving, suspenseful, beautifully atmospheric modern classic from the acclaimed author of The Remains of the Day and Klara and the Sun—“a Gothic tour de force" (The New York Times) with an extraordinary twist. “Brilliantly executed.” —Margaret Atwood “A page-turner and a heartbreaker.” —TIME “Masterly.” —Sunday Times As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were. Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special—and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together.

Mo Willems, #1 New York Times best-selling creator and three-time Caldecott Honoree, presents the 20th anniversary edition of the book that started it all: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, now featuring an exclusive board game! Finally, a book you can say "no" to! When the Bus Driver takes a break from his route, a very unlikely volunteer springs up to take his place—a pigeon! But you've never met a pigeon like this one before. As the Pigeon pleads, wheedles, and begs his way through the book, readers answer back and decide his fate. Mo Willems' hilarious picture book was awarded a 2004 Caldecott Honor and has been inducted into the Picture Book Hall of Fame. Now, twenty years later, readers can amp up the fun in an all-new board game featuring the Pigeon! Players drive their bus pieces around town. The first player to get to the Bus Depot wins, but remember—don't let the Pigeon drive the bus! Say “No!” to all the Pigeon books! The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! For Mo’ amazing books, check out these other great series: Knuffle Bunny Elephant & Piggie Unlimited Squirrels

One night, when Ethan reaches under his bed for a toy truck, he finds this note instead: "Monsters! Meet here for final test." Ethan is sure his parents are trying to trick him into staying under the covers, until he sees five colorful sets of eyes blinking at him from beneath the bed. Soon, a colorful parade of quirky, squeaky little monsters compete to become Ethan's monster. But only the little green monster, Gabe, has the perfect blend of stomach-rumbling and snorting needed to get Ethan into bed and keep him there so he falls asleep—which as everyone knows, is the real reason for monsters under beds. With its perfect balance of giggles and shivers, this silly-spooky prequel to the award-winning I Need My Monster and Hey, That's MY Monster! will keep young readers entertained.

Award-winning storyteller Donna L. Washington has cooked up a delightfully spooky tale in this imaginative twist on the classic "Goldilocks." Curly Locks is a good-hearted girl, but she's an awful cook. All the townspeople of Toadsuck Swamp know to steer clear of her peculiar dishes—like batwing brownies and toad eye toffees. So it's quite a mystery when one of her dishes goes missing from her windowsill. Next morning, chaos breaks out in town and word spreads how the Scares of Toadsuck Swamp are running wild and terrorizing the town at mealtime. They shriek "Gitchey Boo, Gitchey Bon! Gitchey Goo, Gitchey Gone!" and send folk running for their lives! But Curly Locks isn't frightened, and she has an inkling her unsavory cooking can help corral those Scares for good. Exercising tremendous narrative skill, internationally known storyteller Donna L. Washington breathes a spirited new life into an old classic. Her clever, can-do protagonist and joyful language pair brilliantly with Jeffrey Ebbeler's fantasy-like illustrations. This enchanting read is a treat for any time of the year!